Revised nikahnama format packs in more power for Muslim women

MUMBAI, NOV 4: Having agreed to formulate a nikahnama marriage contract that would address certain issues of the Muslim woman, especiall...

MUMBAI, NOV 4: Having agreed to formulate a nikahnama marriage contract that would address certain issues of the Muslim woman, especially those regarding divorce, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board MPLB is expected to release a standard format of the nikahnama in a few months. Speaking at a seminar organised by Majlis, member of the MPLB, Uzma Nahid today said that while a rough draft of the nikahnama has been formalised, a few issues still needed to be discussed with the religious leaders and ulemas of the country.

8220;One of the major concerns of the ulemas is that this nikahnama will be delegating to the woman the right to divorce, albeit on certain conditions. Though within the tenets of Islamic law, this was not in common practice till now. What worries them is that the provision could be misused just as men too are misusing it,8221; said Nahid, later speaking to Indian Express.

The progress 8211; what is being talked about as a major achievement- towards a standardised nikahnama comes after, as Nahid informed, almost twenty to twenty five years of work in this regard. It is expected that the nikahnama would specify a talaq-e-ehsun procedure for divorce, where talaq is pronounced in three sittings over a three-month period, so as to give the couple time to reconcile. This is expected to be an effective way to wipe out the malaise of the itriple-talaq procedure, where talaq is pronounced thrice in one sitting. Most Muslim women today find themselves hapless victims of the triple-talaq procedure, which though sanctioned under the Islamic law, say Muslim scholars, is being used irresponsibly, leaving women with no scope for arbitration or reconciliation.

8220;Triple-talaq is not banned since no Islamic tenet can be banned by any authority8221; said Nahid, 8220;but with the procedure of pronouncing talaq over a three-month period being stipulated, it is expected that the practice of giving talaq in one sitting would fade away8221;.

While all Muslim marriages have a nikahnama, these clauses that have the sanction of the MPLB, would be incorporated for the first time. Till now, most nikahnamas did not go beyond the question of mehr. Though that could be changing. At the seminar, High Court advocate Niloufer Akhtar narrated how she had recently drawn up a contract between two parties where the wife kept a condition that she would divorce if the husband migrated to another country.

8220;Right now, we are concerned about the basic stipulations that should be there in such contracts, later if individuals want, they can add to it,8221; said Nahid. She remarked that under the format being formalised, they would like to give options to the bride on the form of mehr she wanted 8211; whether in gold or silver, cash or property.

The nikahnama is also expected to safeguard the interests of the first wife if the husband decides to go in for a second marriage. This will include conditions that a husband will have to meet, like giving the matrimonial house to the first wife and that her children be paid the same attention as was before the second marriage.

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As for seeking arbitration on a matrimonial dispute, Nahid said that the MPLB has set up three Islamic courts 8211; Darrulqaza 8211; in the city of Mumbai, where muftis, would settle disputes. There is scope for lawyers to intervene and she is trying to have a woman counsellor on the premises of the court so that women find it easier to speak in confidence.